


Escaping Their Shadow

by arysthaeniru



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M, pre!tezuka/yanagi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 04:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3636705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arysthaeniru/pseuds/arysthaeniru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It isn't easy to escape from the shadow and mistakes of the people who are too much like you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Escaping Their Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> Request for Tezuka/Yanagi, one of those pairings I just love to think about together, even if writing it is a little difficult.

There was a loud scuffle outside, and Tezuka pursed his lips from where he was leant back against the back of the bunkbed, hiding slightly under the shade of the mattress above him. Thankfully, his room was always deserted around the evening, by people relaxing in other places or getting in more practise. Under other circumstances, Tezuka might have joined them, but he needed to catch up on his schoolwork, which was why he was currently struggling through Kafka, and annotating his comments on the side of the book, in post-its. 

The world didn’t stop turning for tennis, as much as Tezuka would have liked that. His parents still had their reservations about him playing pro tennis, because of his frequent injuries, and seemed to be subtly pushing him down the lawyer route. Not that Tezuka particularly minded that as a secondary choice, but tennis was his true passion, as the the whole world knew. Still, duty would out and if his parents would prefer that he went for the path of the lawyer, he would probably stay in school, and as Seigaku’s pillar.

There was a particularly loud slam and Tezuka’s own door was pushed open quickly, by none other than Yanagi Renji. “Can I hide here?” asked Yanagi, his words slightly rushed and Tezuka raised an eyebrow in response. Seemingly taking that as a yes, Yanagi dived for the area under Tezuka’s bed, impressively managing to fit himself fully underneath, despite his height. 

He was reminded that despite Yanagi’s otherwise graceful appearances when with the other two thirds of Rikkai’s Three Demons, Yanagi had once been a friend of Inui’s, and that required a certain amount of bizarreness in daily life. 

Tezuka continued to read the book, but was interrupted again, not ten seconds later by Rikkai’s Niou, Marui and Kirihara. “Oh.” said Kirihara drawing back upon seeing Tezuka, and started bowing frantically. Tezuka wondered whether that was due in part to the fact that Tezuka had made the junior run laps the last time Kirihara had interfered with Seigaku unofficially, but that was probably pushing it. 

Still, Niou seemed unfazed by Tezuka’s existence, as he pushed into the room and looked around.

“Do you mind?” asked Tezuka, glaring at them, with clear disapproval. Marui and Kirihara both looked uneasy, but Niou still maintained the casual air of unaffectedness. Tezuka supposed that was one of the benefits of having Yukimura as a captain, it was difficult to beat the levels of intimidation

“Yeah, have you seen Our Strategist anywhere?” asked Niou, pushing his face in just a little bit too close to Tezuka, as if to check that Tezuka wasn’t hiding the lanky teen in his pockets. Tezuka thought that Niou was picking up bad habits from Atobe. 

“No, I haven’t. This room has been quiet, until you came in.” He glared once more, with the clear implication that they should leave and help the room return to that quiet state. Marui made his way to the door, dragging Niou bodily away from Tezuka’s bed. 

“Thanks for the help, Tezuka-san.” Marui said, cheerfully, as Kirihara shut the door behind the three of them, leaving the room in silence once more. It took five minutes of silence before Yanagi finally clambered his way from underneath the bed, brushing off the lint and cobwebs that had managed to get caught on his uniform.

“Sorry for the trouble.” Yanagi said, bowing politely and traditionally. “Yours is one of the only rooms with a bed that doesn’t have underfloor storage. There was a 78.6% chance that I could pass unnoticed in here.”

Tezuka just nodded, silently wondering exactly what Yanagi had done to want to escape his teammates so urgently. “No problem.” said Tezuka, as he turned back to his book.

“I owe you a favour.” Yanagi said, as he backed out of the room, not stopping to brush the cobwebs from his hair. Tezuka wondered if he should warn him about that, but didn’t bother. Kafka needed his full attention, anyway. 

(x)

Yanagi paused only slightly as he noted down the data of the match being played in front of him. The advantages of being in U-17 camp were seeing match-ups that wouldn’t have otherwise been possible, like Shiraishi and Akaya vs. Davide and Sadaharu, an entirely different sort of doubles pairing than Yanagi would have ever been able to envisage together. Sometimes, you just had to see things to comprehend just how interesting they could be.

Things, like the fact that Tezuka was currently jogging towards him, looking a little more frustrated than his usual trademark frown. Interesting. “Yanagi.” he greeted, in a no-nonsense manner that reminded Yanagi all too much of Sanada. “I’ll be calling in that favour now.”

Yanagi tucked his pencil into his bag instantly, and the notebook vanished, as quickly as it had appeared. “Yes?” he asked, politely. Tezuka had managed to save him from a round of strip poker combined with truth and dare, something that Yanagi _never_ wanted to play with the likes of his teammates, interesting data to be had or not. It was about self-preservation. 

“Play a match with me.” Tezuka said, instantly, inclining his head to the one free court, and Yanagi raised an eyebrow. That hardly counted as a favour, half the tennis world wanted to play a match with Tezuka. Still, he didn’t protest, as he grabbed his racquet from his bag and slipped out of his practise tracksuit bottoms. 

“You serve first.” Yanagi said, as they settled on the court, his eyes flickering over to the court on his right, where Sadaharu and Davide had just managed to get a point from Shiraishi and Akaya, surprisingly. 

His attention was rudely drawn back to their match by Tezuka’s serve skidding past him, at high speed. Yanagi’s eyebrows rose. He was taking this seriously then? Alright, well he wouldn’t hold back this time. 

On the second serve, Yanagi started moving instantly, knowing exactly where it would go from the 67.5 degree curve of his arm and returned it with a swift backhand, his mind working fast to see where Tezuka would go next. Being quick on the attack was very important when playing Tezuka, that had been an easily observable thing from the matches with both Atobe and Sanada. It was imperative to keep Tezuka moving.

Of course, that was a lot easier to say than it was to put into effect, and by the next game, Tezuka had managed to create his zone. Yanagi’s breathing was already heavy, and his eyes flittered to the side of the court, where some people had gathered already. Fuji, Kaidou and Momoshiro seemed very fascinated in their match and Yanagi forced himself to ignore their comments about how he was bound to lose. If you went into a match with the intention of losing, you would lose, that was simple psychology and Yanagi intended to try to win, even if his percentages were low. 

He curved back into a serve and darted after the ball, carefully watching the way his feet moved. Yanagi remembered Yukimura’s analysis of Tezuka’s steps, back when they’d been bored in hospital and rewatching old tapes from previous matches. Tezuka was best once he got into a routine. You let him get entrenched in the Zone and then you broke it, suddenly, in less than a game. Then you attempted to make it stay broken. It was a difficult, potentially dangerous strategy, as Sanada had proven, but it was more than possible. 

And thinking too much without paying attention to his surroundings was going to result in points loss, that was something to remember. Yanagi watched the ball roll towards the net, after Tezuka’s signature Zero-Shiki Drop Shot and frowned. The trajectory for it was almost identical to Kamaitachi.

Hmm…

Yanagi played at lower intensity for another couple of games, letting Tezuka take the points with only marginal struggle, as he watched and took in Tezuka’s movements. It was all in the timing, that was the only way to beat him, and few people succeeded at that naturally. Tezuka’s defence was one of the best things that Yanagi had seen, on a tennis circuit where few players liked to focus on it. Rikkai was an attack team, save for Jackal, and even Jackal wasn’t at Tezuka’s level, despite being a nationally ranked singles player in his own right. 

It was much different to playing any of the other members of the circuit and Yanagi was enjoying himself, even if he was currently getting smashed. Still, he could see Sadaharu’s displeased face at the side. One person knew that he was faking this easy loss, anyway. 

And the time came, all too quickly. With a sharp twist of his hand, Yanagi curved, with 10% more force, into a kamaitachi shot. It curved, smoothly, like a parabola, and though it did seem to have a larger derivative than a usual drop shot should have had, it dropped quickly enough to prevent Tezuka from being able to reach it with Tezuka Zone. Evidently, the curve that Yanagi had given it was enough.

There was a sudden silence from their spectators and Tezuka himself gave Yanagi a pleased nod, as he settled back into a ready position. From then on, Yanagi was able to break each instance of Tezuka Zone reoccuring, if only by forcing Tezuka to move to reach Yanagi’s drop shots. From there, it was easier to win points. 

Though, as they approached the tenth game, with an even 5-5 between them, his arm was positively throbbing. He had thought Sanada had been slightly stupid for risking his legs and Tezuka had been extremely stupid for constantly risking his arm, but the adrenaline through his veins, giving him the chance that he could win this, was difficult to fight and to overcome. 

 

Still, when his wrist clicked slightly, in an ominous sound that didn’t sound like it was coping well under the extra strain placed upon it, Yanagi let the definitive shot fly by him and collide against the fencing behind him. “I withdraw.” he said, quietly, as he brought his other hand up to massage his wrist, pressing into the muscles deeply, in soothing rotational motions. Even if he wasn’t looking into professional play, he didn’t want to lose his capacity to win, over something as insignificant as an unofficial, friendly match. He was pragmatic in that, at least.

“Good game.” said Tezuka, as they both walked up to the next, to shake hands. His cool grip was loose over Yanagi’s wrist, something that Yanagi was grateful for, and Yanagi smiled at him. There was an understanding look in his amber eyes, even if the set of his shoulders implied a little disappointment.

“Perhaps next time, we can meet officially, and then we can finish this.” said Yanagi, nodding his head, slightly. He’d train up his wrist and the amount of energy that it required to make Kamaitachi work. That required some calculations and some serious changing of his current muscle memory.

“Ah.” agreed Tezuka, as they both went for their bags. 

Fuji, Kaidou and Momoshiro were still waiting, and Yanagi hummed, softly. Hadn’t Tezuka been attempting to avoid them? “Mmm, weren’t we going for a run after this? It took 37 minutes longer than I expected, can we still go?” asked Yanagi, politely, wondering whether he still had the energy to run, now. 

Tezuka met his gaze, easily, without even reacting to the lie. “Ah, I think we can.” he said. Impressive. Only the slight contraction of his eyes had given him away as being vaguely surprised. A good liar, unlike Sanada. Yanagi doubted that Tezuka would be much good as an actor, however. 

Kaidou and Momoshiro walked away clearly chatting, and even though Fuji looked vaguely calculating, at a slight handsignal from Yanagi, Sadaharu managed to grab him and babbled excitedly about something to do with Inui Juice and wasabi and first years. Yanagi’s lips twitched upwards, in amusement, and wondered whether Echizen and Tooyama were going to be okay.

“They’ll leave you be, now.” said Yanagi, as he downed his water. “But I’d better cool down, anyway.”

Tezuka wordlessly joined him, in the light jog around the premises. It was a comfortable silence, and Yanagi wondered why it was he hadn’t done this before. 

(x)

Sometimes, overthinking things led to midnight wanderings, something that Tezuka wasn’t overly happy about. He liked to have a strict schedule of sleep, tennis and homework, in order to make sure that he was well rested and healthy, but today, not even writing in his journal had been able to cure him of the uneasiness that came from Yamato’s advice. 

_Leave and go to Germany to play pro…_

He’d gotten the letters, which very generous sponsorship offers. And he knew that if he went, Atobe would send him off and make sure that Tezuka didn’t get into trouble, one of the less annoying things about the pompousness of having Atobe’s friendship. But he hadn’t even completed middle school yet, let alone high school.

If his tennis failed, he’d have nothing to fall back on. He was good here, but compared to the rest of the world? That was another issue. Besides, even if Seigaku’s Nationals win had happened, they still needed their pillar, didn’t they? They liked Echizen well enough, but Echizen’s influence on the team was a different one to that of Tezuka’s.

Still. Yamato had encouraged him to pursue his own dreams, for once. And Tezuka hadn’t thought about what he truly wanted in a very long time. Duty had been his only priority for a very long time. 

“Tezuka-san.” came a quiet voice, and Tezuka realized that his wanderings had brought his feet to the main cafeteria. It was mainly deserted, save for Yanagi, who was perched on a barstool, with a small pot of steaming tea in front of him.

“Ah, sorry to bother you.’ said Tezuka, turning around, to maybe take a walk outside. The lights were on there until daybreak, so he couldn’t get lost.

“Would you like some tea?” asked Yanagi, quickly, almost stumbling over his words. Tezuka hesitated, before nodding, and taking a seat next to Yanagi, picking up a cup from the sidebar. The smell of jasmine drifted up from the spout and Tezuka grasped the cup between his hands, letting them warm up his hands. 

“The matches today were interesting.” said Yanagi, absently, his hands pressing to the slight wounds across his face. Tezuka made a soft sound of affirmative, and took a sip from his cup, staring off towards the night.

“You played Yamato-san, didn’t you?” asked Yanagi, casually, and Tezuka turned to face him. Yanagi’s face was impassively clear, but something about the tone of his voice reminded him of Inui, when Inui was being particularly cryptic. “It’s not easy to play senpai…”

Tezuka gave him a look. “I suppose you have experience there.” he said, carefully. There was something wistful in his face, and for all that Fuji liked to call him oblivious, Tezuka was capable of picking up on social cues. Tennis practise just wasn’t the time to address them. 

Yanagi’s look was self-deprecating. “You could say that.” he said, as he took a sip of tea. “Jan-ken for who talks first?” he asked, amusedly, as he refilled his cup, his hands careful and steady. 

“I was under the impression that Rikkai suppressed all of their problems until they exploded.” Tezuka said, coolly, as he drained his cup. When he opened his eyes, Yanagi looked slightly taken-aback, before he laughed, with surprised amusement. 

“Only Akaya.” said Yanagi, swirling his tea in the cup. “And occasionally Genichirou. But it was mostly in Seiichi’s absence.”

“That could be tough.” said Tezuka, with a nod. It was always difficult to effectively organize the team without the mood-maker, and when their mood-maker was also their captain, it would lead to even more trouble. He was impressed by Rikkai’s discipline to keep going so well. Still, he was prouder of his team for their struggles. Seigaku made him very proud most days, even if they did frustrate him beyond doubt, on other days. 

“Well, it’s certainly not Rikkai that has the reputation for never smiling.” murmured Yanagi, a smirk on his lips. “Perhaps it is a little hypocritical for you to critique our repression of emotion.” 

Tezuka just tilted his cup to Yanagi, marginally. “I am capable of feeling emotion. I just don’t feel comfortable with being emotionally open with strangers or when I am in the middle of working.” he said, carefully, as an explanation. He wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to defend himself to Yanagi, but there was something about his countenance that was like Inui’s and Fuji’s together, and something entirely separate at the same time. It was a little too easy to feel comfortable talking to Yanagi.

Yanagi gave him a careful look, and Tezuka felt rather like he was being judged. He just took a sip, without feeling too self-conscious. He was all too aware of being used as a measuring-rod against which people measured themselves,and he had grown accustomed to his position as just that. The lanky teen looked somewhat cautious about throwing out these words. “I hardly think there’s nothing with that. But prioritizing work like that removes your own personal desires from the situation. Sometimes it is important to remember your own desires.”

That was rather uncanny. Tezuka took a sip from the cup to hide his surprise. “But sometimes your own desires can sabotage your own efforts from before.” he retorted. 

“Your desires are more important. Especially when you work as hard as you do, and it’s work for someone else, it’s important to remember that time must exist for you as well.” Yanagi said, quietly, his face serious and pensive. “At least, that’s what I tell my sister. Your desires are more sensible than you would expect them to be.” At this, he gave Tezuka a crooked smile, which Tezuka faintly returned. 

“Perhaps, you are right.” Tezuka said, taking a sip of tea again. He didn’t know which was more important, in the long term. His education or tennis. But being told his desires were more sensible than he thought, was something that he’d never had said to him; at least, not in such plain terms. 

Yanagi leant back, with a pleased smile and Tezuka placed his own cup down. “I’m afraid that if you are expecting the reverse, I am not a mind-reader and you will be waiting for a long time.” he said, ignoring the light snort from Yanagi. “If you would like my sincere advice, it is easier that you just tell me.”

Yanagi coughed, softly. 

“It’s twice now that I lost to people with whom I have previously won. They have the same style as I in tennis, and even though they both say it is a 50-50 chance of winning between us every time we have a match, I think we all know that they’re better than me.” Inui was definitely one of the people that Yanagi was referring to, but Tezuka didn’t know the other. That probably didn’t matter.

“So you want to defeat them?” asked Tezuka.

“I wonder if I should change my style to do that, yes.” Yanagi said, quietly, glancing down at his cup.

“I wouldn’t, unless you are severely unhappy with your current style.” said Tezuka, carefully. It had worked for some, like Sengoku, but he doubted that success for someone like Yanagi, for whom science and maths were a lifestyle, not just a tennis playstyle. “It is easier to develop on the skills you have and push those further. Why throw away what you are good at for a cheap victory? Win on your own terms.” said Tezuka, coolly. 

 

He merely glanced down towards Yanagi’s wrist. Yanagi had been close to defeating him, and had he been playing seriously, they both would have struggled and prolonged the match for a very long time. His reputation as one of the Three Demons was hardly exaggerated. He hadn’t seen an issue in Yanagi’s playstyle, frankly. Everyone lost some matches, and everyone won some matches. It was more important how they grew after the result, and if you lost to people who were like you, you saw not only your flaws, but also their flaws.

That had been his lesson learned from his match with Kabaji. 

Yanagi just nodded, as he finished his cup of tea. “Thank you, Tezuka-san.” he said, quietly, and there was a peaceful smile on his face. 

“You too.” Tezuka said, as he drained his cup, and carefully washed out his cup, in the sink, on the opposite side of the counter. Yanagi took the cups from his hands briskly, dried them neatly, then placed them back on the sidebar, with a little caution.

“We’d better head back, before the lasers turn on.” Yanagi murmured and Tezuka nodded, in agreement. 

“Good night, Yanagi.” he said, pausing to nod at the lanky teen, before heading back to his room. He had to pack his things, quickly. . There was a flight to catch and a sponsor waiting in Germany.


End file.
